Kevtherevagon

[gtavalanche]

[quote="metalmick8y"]So do they just bling them up and not bother with the important stuff then Jim,that or theyre buying mint vans

None of these are mine but just a few of the recent build threads from the BY

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/the-u ... 70700.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/limit ... 70160.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/my-ne ... 67373.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/gti-v ... 44846.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Plasticman]

thanks for them , got something to look at this evening
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[Plasticman]

Wellfinnishing off the gutters today, made the difficult bit for the longish gap as shown the other day, gassed it in and filled the part spot holes with brass, reason for part drilling and only cutting a 1/3rd off(would have been more if the rot was greater) was to make sure the roof skin was still fixed to the under panal so all I had to do was effect a join.

this is looking at the out side after I have ground the excess off

this is the underside, which after a clean off will only require a thin bead of seam sealer to replicate the original.

there were a few rusty scabs a bit further along, nothing much ,just a bit scabby , well this is what a scab looks like when poked and then removed

and over the C pillar

new bit added here, note that this is the easy repair as the bad bit hadnt spread to the underside

now welded in

ditto

I have purposly left the weld a little chunky and proud as this will allow me to grind it back to form the curved profile towards the underside
this is looking inside the gutter channel

they are a good match so shouldnt be too noticable after as I really dont want to use filler here (this is top mof C pillar)

top of C pillar again

filed off and sanded the lead on the osr 1/4

it will get a surfacing of filler
and the long middle panal likewise


now kev, you said you were going back to factory rear lighhts? good cos

your holes gone
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[kevtherev]

Thanks mike.. of and no more wet head when I open the slider any more
looks like you're done with the mig now Mike?

[Plasticman]

Yep. mig,gas and lead done
never thought about the gutter emptying on to you
gonna protect the gutters and set about reseating the roof...
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[kevtherev]

best of luck with that, or is it fairly straight forward?

I've been cracking on with recovering the interior panels and the front high top bulkhead

[Plasticman]

theyre not hard to fit, this is awkward as Its got carp to remove from last poor fit, but no wont be a prob,
Your panal is looking nice,
I was down at olearies the other day and they do have some 22nd century lights , led stuff that is sometyhing elkse and most of what I was looking at like spots and such were under a tenner, maybe leave a few wires handy for stuff.
I will be getting the insulation this coming few days and once the sealant has dried etc I will be getting it stuck in, dont forsee any problems.
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[Plasticman]

Well funny how simple tasks turn out other,
this shows one of the rivits that were left and causing problems. they are now all ground off

funny enough there were no rivits on the o/side.
these picks are more for ref: for A/S owners,
At the rear of the main bed board/base is a smaller infill this shows the retainig screws,the other half is a mirror of it

with it removed


so you can at least get access to the rear of the roof
loads of this bath silicone

which was doing zero good, a total waste of application

Now at ther momnent I have thoroughly cleaned all the mating surfaces and lowered the roof down to see how it looks / fits. this is the front edge, note how the roof sits down snugly and even



now like this I have had a look at the sides along the gutter to the rear and.......
there is a gap of 1/4"+ at the front and a greater ammount on the other side, this varies on its way to the rear, and at the rear it is again a poor gap ,
this is maybe why it had long strips of some sort of rubbery strip siliconed on.
On the front edge if the seal is fitted to the front of the roof then this will raise the roof a further 1/8" min', plus I am not happy using it, reasons being, the seal is pop rivited to the roof and this is sat on the metal roof. there is little to stop all the carp being driven into it, also paint wont get under it properly nor will the roof paint get behind the rubber.
I would rather adhere the hitop to the roof and finnish it properly at that.
on the rear I think I can still use the A/S seal but not guarantee it.
Oh kev do you want the led's removed and filled on the rear of the top/
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[scottbott]

is that how the top fits on all autosleepers?,well crappy if that is so,would have thought that it would be virtually impossible to stop water getting in somewhere,not impressed if mine is like that,too scared to look,and do not have the money at the moment

[Plasticman]

I really dont know. the rubber seal at front andrear was also full of some sort of sealer silicone stuff, thaat said it was fitted by a repairer not AS, so not fair to say really, either way a top be it pop or high has to be adhered some how, and bonding would be my prefered choice, but if you have no insulation up top and you get condensation , well it will have to go some place and as youve seen from these pickies you can at least get access to the rear part from inside and the front well you can unscrew the board, remove it and then unscrew the frame that supports it, thats all a lot of work for an inspection, but if you find horrors then at least you can plan for future works or discreet sale.
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[kevtherev]

LEDs out Mike thanks..
Mike, were the bed rafters secured to the roof top?
I ask as it seems more logical to me to secure a roof to a wood frame and a frame to the van roof using the stronger roof strut.... do you see that?

As we have worked out, this is a retro fitted roof scott so I don't think you can draw any conclusions to it's similarity to AS fitting.
I'm glad the front seal is being junked as aesthetically it was an eyesore and seemed to serve no purpose

[Plasticman]

Ok kev,.
The bed boards whatever you call them are screwed to the peripheral framework and this is and from what I can see total sepperate and unatached from the hi top.
Ive looked for signs of the original top and it was not at any point fixed to the wood , I think basicaly they chop a hole bend stuff out the way fit the wood frame and such then cover with carpet then affix hitop, on yours there was evidence that the top at the rear was rivited down above the tailgaste, but also rivited through the rear rubber as well, on the front I will go find the roof section I cut out and see if there are any rivit holes in here,
but yes I think that it will be an awfull lot neater without this front seal thing, though if you think about it from ythe AS point of view, well they take a van and cut holes in it and fit vents and the like , when it comes to the roof, well by doing it this way they avoid the possibility of having tom do any paintwork as the seal is the finnish . just my theory
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[kevtherev]

your theory sounds about right for a business decision.
What the hell stops the bed frame from moving around on the roof then?

[Plasticman]

I will try explain with pickies later, got to go out now, but it is secured
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[trentjim]

good stuff as ever....
watching this bit intently to see if sticking on a high top is in fact harder than one would imagine, and to figure out what building a top bed from scratch would entail vs salvaging one...
cheers,
James